AVA is a dream materialized by friends’ shared passion for helping others. Through their work and volunteering in Africa, they saw so much that inspired a will to step up and lend a hand. They also saw how rich the continent is in talent and creativity. This inspired them to found AVA to bridge the gap between those in a world of plenty and those in a world of unfulfilled opportunities. AVA works in symbiosis with Creative Souls of Southern Africa.
Hashini
The most valuable asset on Earth is the children, because they are the future – they are our precious gold
Hashini is a medical doctor and PhD student. She has worked and volunteered all over the world: UK, Kenya, Norway, South Africa, Italy, Sri Lanka… During her many visits to Africa, she simply fell in love with its people and the community. It saddened her to see how teenage pregnancies, HIV and sexual traumas affect both the individual and the community as a whole. The hardships endured by these young women inspired her to found AVA to improve their health, trying to give them a fighting chance for a brighter future.
Sigve
Through education, we can change the world
Sigve is a medical doctor and PhD graduate (tropical medicine). He has worked in Norway and South Africa. He is convinced that education is the cornerstone of a bright future and founded AVA to be able to contribute to better educational conditions for everyone.
Lars
Lars is working in hospital logistics in Oslo University Hospital, and have over several periods been working at a Research facility centre in KwaZulu-Natal, Bright research. He has been visiting schools all around rural KZN doing field work and facilitating medicine distribution projects. Lars regard KZN his second home, and always long back to this magnificent part of the world and the people living there.
Zama
Umuntu umuntu ngabantu
A person is a person through other people
Zama is the Director of AVA, South Africa. She has over 10 years of research experience addressing Public Health related topics in South Africa. She has worked in different research projects engaging in-school and out-of-school youth. She has done community work for the development of the youth parents (mothers and fathers) as well as Senior citizens in different communities.
She is driven by an Indigenous Knowledge System motor: “Mayibuye i-Africa” (Africa must rise again), “Umuntu umuntu ngabantu” (A person is a person through other people), “Ubuntu” (I am because we are). Through her experience, she is dedicated to the development and transformation of the African youth through the restoration of hope for a better future and giving them skills necessary for survival.